Advancements in communication technologies have permitted the development and deployment of many new types of communication devices usable by which to effectuate many different types of communication services.
In general, a communication service is effectuated by, or between, communication devices. The communication devices variously form sending stations that operate to send communication data and receiving stations that operate to receive communication data. Communication data sourced at, or otherwise provided to, a sending station is communicated to a receiving station by way of a communication channel.
Some communication devices operate both to send and to receive communication data, thereby to permit two-way communication of data between a set of communication devices. The communication devices are sometimes constructed to be operable to communicate communication data upon radio channels defined upon portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. A communication system in which the communication devices are interconnected by radio channels, thereby communicate by way of the radio channels, is referred to as a radio communication system.
A radio communication system advantageously provides for communications even when the communication devices operable therein can not be interconnected by way of wirelines upon which communication channels are defined. A wireline communication system, in contrast, requires that the communication devices operable therein be interconnected by way of wireline connections. Free of the need to interconnect the communication devices with such wireline connections, the communication devices of a radio communication system are positionable at locations between which wireline connections are unavailable. Additionally, free of the need to interconnect the communication devices with wireline connections, one, or more, of the communication devices between which data is communicated is permitted mobility, thereby permitting the radio communication system to form a mobile communication system.
A cellular communication system is exemplary of a mobile communication system. Network infrastructures of cellular communication systems of various constructions, i.e., constructed pursuant to various standard operational specifications, have been installed throughout significant portions of the populated areas of the world. Voice and data communication services are effectuable by way of cellular communication systems. Increasingly data-intensive communication services are permitted through use of new-generation cellular communication systems. Users communicate telephonically, typically through the use of portable communication devices that are sometimes referred to as mobile stations. A mobile station is a radio transceiver, capable of communicating with a communication entity of the network infrastructure of a cellular communication system in whose coverage area that the mobile station is positioned. A mobile station includes radio transceiver circuitry, i.e., forms both a receiving station and a sending station to permit two-way communications with the communication entity of the network infrastructure. A mobile station is typically of small dimensions to permit its hand carriage by a user.
In some aspects, a mobile station operable in a cellular communication system corresponds to a conventional telephonic handset and includes microphonic and speaker transducers and a telephonic keypad. A mobile station also typically includes a user display for displaying information in visual, or other human perceptible, form. The user displays of many mobile stations are formed of liquid crystal displays having multiple-color display capabilities and high pixel-density configurations.
Mobile stations are sometimes constructed to incorporate capabilities that provide advancements over earlier-constructed mobile stations and to provide user-interface, and other, capabilities that provide new or unique advantages through their use. The unique capabilities of a mobile station also sometimes provide manufacturers and sellers of the mobile station with marketing advantages. That is to say, selection for purchase or other use of a mobile station is sometimes, if not often times, made as a result of the unique capabilities of the mobile station.
However, particularly when the mobile-station capability is first provided at the start of a production cycle, the capability, although perhaps incorporated into the functionality of the mobile station, is not readily usable as the communication system in which the mobile station is to be operated fails to provide the functionality permitting the mobile-station capability to be evident to a user of the mobile station. Or, particularly with respect to pre-production models, the operability of the feature-providing part of the mobile station associated with the mobile-station capability is not fully working, that is, is not free of defects. The capability of the mobile station might again not be evident to a user or perspective purchaser if the capability-providing feature is not fully operational at the mobile station.
A mechanism by which to demonstrate a capability of a mobile station irrespective of whether the capability-producing feature of the mobile station is fully operational or whether the mobile station is positioned in a communication system that permits the capability to be evidenced would be beneficial.
It is in light of this background information related to mobile stations, or other radio devices, operable in a radio communication system that the significant improvements of the present invention have evolved.